Midway to Home

The forecast for day 17 (the last day) of the Down South Loop was 50% chance of rain starting mid afternoon. We have 3 locks and 58 miles to go to complete the loop. It should a nice trip. We loaded up in Robin's vehicle and left for Midway about 8:30.

As we approached the dock at Midway, Charlie wondered aloud, as to whether the Sirena 58 made it to Midway last night? I looked out at the channel heading out of Midway and saw a boat heading out and said, that looks like her heading out now.

We both had the same thought. Shoot....we got to get moving. The next lock is only 3 miles from Midway. We need to catch up with that boat, because lock operators do not like it when a recreational vessel (RV) shows up just minutes after he has locked through another RV. We practically jump out of Robin's vehicle before it even came to a full stop. Charlie gets on the boat and starts the engine. I free the lines and push us off. The owner of the marina tells us that a sailboat is also heading toward the Rankin Lock. We relax just a bit, we can surely catch a sailboat.

We catch both boats half-way to the lock, the sailboat Serendipity and the M/V Emma Elizabeth. I guess the Cienna 58 didn't make it. We heard a tow, the George Linzie (he must have stopped along the way since we last saw him), in Fulton Lock, heading up (toward Rankin Lock). We pushed just a little more. Hopefully we can get the process started before the tow gets to close, after all he was just starting to leave Fulton Lock (6 miles away).

Just as we reached the holding area for the Rankin Lock, we hear the George Linzie call up the Rankin Lock. We were relieved to hear the lock operator tell him, I'm going to get the RVs up and out of your way first.

All three of us, the Serendipity, Emma Elizabeth, and our pontoon lock through together. We will be locking through the next two locks as a group. The lock operators want the RVs to stick together and lock through this series of locks as a group. (It is 6 miles to Montgomery Lock and then another 12 miles to Whitten Lock). We will all be at sailboat speed, the slowest boat in the group, all the way. We make it through the Montgomery lock as a group without any issue.

The next Lock is the final Lock for us, the Jamie Whitten Lock. Once we clear this lock we are in the home stretch. Whitten Lock is a massive 78' lift. When we get there, we see a tow is entering the chamber. We find tree growing out of the rock wall and tie to it. We anxiously wait, hoping we don't hear the George Linzie on the radio.

We hear the horn signalling the tow he is clear to exit the lock. Next we hear the siren that is a signals of water being released from the chambers. We watch for the churning discharge water to start subsiding. That's the telltale sign that the lock doors will soon open. Once it does, we will untie from the tree and start moving toward the lock.

We hear the lock operator talking to a tow boat captain, but the captain is just informing him that he is working some barges about a half mile south of the lock. There is a large wood chip operation in this area. That was a relief, we were both concerned that the tow was coming to the lock and would boot us to third in line, remember the George Linzie was coming out of Fulton Lock as we started our day. We are still not sure the George Linzie's location.

We also hear the Sirena 58 calling Whitten Lock. The lock operator tells him if he hustles, he can put him through with the other boats waiting to go up. He says I am running 26 MPH, I'll be there shortly. Yep, he doesn't care about fuel. At that speed, I would guess he's is burning about 30 gallons an hour. The discharge water starts calm and we start making our way to the lock.

The Sirena 58 makes it to Whitten Lock and and the four of us wait for the doors to open. We called the Sirena 58 on the radio and offered to take the first pin in the lock and let them go around, since they are by far the faster boat. They decline our offer. I guess we will see another slow pass from them that is not done correctly. Maybe we can coach them through the correct way to execute a slow pass.

After we are all loaded in the lock chamber and the doors are closing, we hear the call from the George Linzie. The lock operator told him he had some RVs on the way up and he would turn the lock around as soon as they get out and be ready for them in about 30 minutes (maybe a bit of a fib).

This lock is so deep that noises echo inside the chamber. When the doors close, it's like a cheap horror movie, you hear the echo of the door closing and then an echo of the click (or clang) when the doors lock. Then the water starts swirling around like water boiling in a pot. Up we go....., top floor please. (The Whitten Lock is the third highest single lift lock east of the Rockies. The Wilson Lock on the Tennessee River is the highest at 94 feet.) We have 78' to go and this guy has turned the valves wide open. This elevator seems to be a lot faster than the other locks we have gone through. Maybe its bigger valves or maybe it's hydro dynamics, or maybe both. He is going for that 30 minute turn around.

We reach the top and the doors open to Bay Springs Lake. We are definitely in the home stretch, 38 miles to go. The Sirena 58 cuts out wide to make a wide pass around us. The lake is wide enough that he is probably a half mile from us as he overtakes us. By the time his wake reaches us, the waves are manageable. Zoom off he goes. He has probably slowed to 20 gallons an hour. One of the tow captains he passes complements the boat. He says: "It's nice but I bet you have a more comfortable bed in your tow boat than this thing has. I feel like I am sleeping in a dog's bed. You would think for 2.1 million, you could get a comfortable bed." So, I guess the fuel bill is of little concern for the owner. (BTW: We see him again, getting fuel at Auqa Yacht Harbor.)

We head on up Bay Springs Lake toward the Divide Cut. The Divide Cut is 29 miles of the remaining 38 miles. It is the canal that connects the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake to the upper pool of the Whitten Lock and Tenn-Tom waterway. The Divide Cut is a rock lined canal with very few points of interest. Rarely do you see any wildlife. Even the eagles think this is a boring stretch and avoid it.

In 1976 the entire town of Holcut, MS was purchased by the US Army Corp of Engineers and then demolished in order to build the channel. The Divide Cut channel was one of the largest earth-moving projects in history. It took 10 years and cost of nearly $500 million to build. The canal is 280 feet wide with an average depth of 12 feet. A total of 150 million cubic yards of earth had to be removed, about 1.5 times as much as for the Suez Canal. The total Tenn-Tom project all the way to Demopolis was a larger project (required more earth moving) than the Panama Canal.

We droned our way through the Divide Cut. Not much to see. I guess to add a little excitement to this part of the trip, we ran out of gas in the Cut. But, it was intentional. We were trying to run all of the gas out of the auxiliary tank Charlie had installed for the trip. When we emerged on the other side of the Cut, to Pickwick Lake, I think we both felt a sense of accomplishment, relief, joy (I know I did). But, then we passed mile 450 and turned toward Auqa Yacht Harbor, we were smiling widely.

We did it. Yes, the Down South Loop can be done in a pontoon boat.

At 4:41 PM on the 17th day of the Down South Loop, we crossed our wake and completed the Loop. We have traveled 1,746 miles. We touched 9 states, (Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama). We had 3 weather days and 14 travel days. It was a great trip. Doing this Loop in a boat that we could land up on the sand bars at night was a good choice. If we had not been quarantining on the boat, I am sure we could talk about all the people we met along the way. Maybe next time.

Thank you Charlie, for having the crazy idea and inviting me to share in the adventure.
Now it is time for us both to go to our perspective homes and do the two-week quarantine.

Thanks to all of you who follow along through the blog, I really appreciate your emails. So long for now, until my next big adventure floats around.